The Big Society: help or hindrance to the future of civil society?
Submitted by Kamille Jennings on Mon, 27/09/2010 - 14:31
NCVO's Members' Assembly will be meeting on October 14 to discuss the Big Society. Five questions have been posed for consideration. Do you have any views? What are the views of your networks? Please share them with us.
About how the Big Society agenda is affecting civil society on the ground:
1) What is your actual experience on the ground? (Note: we are asking for evidence of change that’s driven by the Big Society agenda, so please try to be specific and avoid speculation.)
2) In what ways might the Big Society help our work?
3) In what ways might the Big Society hinder our work?
About influencing the Big Society so that it can help us to deliver a Good Society:
4) What could NCVO do?
5) What could civil society organisations do?
Also read NCVO Head of Policy Belinda Pratten's blog Debating the Big Society.
In answer to your questions re BigSoc:
What is your actual experience on the ground? What I am noticing are community development worker CDW colleagues & graduates coming back round to me because they are threatened with/losing their jobs; this in turn results from local authorities reducing funding for community development, which is not (deemed) a statutory/crucial service. This would seem to be under-cutting progress with/towards the BigSoc.
In what ways might the Big Society help our work? By translating NIMBY (Not in My Back Yard) in to IMBY (In My Back Yard) e.g. in relation to the Community Right to Build.
In what ways might the Big Society hinder our work? By distracting and reducing funding and support for the Voluntary and Community sector, and funding a whole new flotilla of 5,000 CDWs/Organisers, when these already exist in local authorities, parish councils, communities & Voluntary organisations like RCCs & VCSs...
What could NCVO do? Try to persuade Government to invest in existing CDWs and voluntary organisations active in the field; and to realise that community activity must be fostered & supported and is not some spontaneous flower that blooms in the wilderness, without care and tending!
Thanks for your comments - I agree the Big Society should be about evolution, not revolution. The Government should be building on the activities and relationships that voluntary and community organisations have nurtured and helping this to flourish. If the ambitions for the Big Society are to be achieved, we must be seen to be key players and partners. Local authorities should not see us as a soft target for cuts - if they get this wrong, healthy organisations will fail and vulnerable communities will become even more vulnerable. They should be working with us to mitigate the impact of cuts on local people and communities - good partnership is even more crucial in hard times.